Suspected PAX Breach Code Thief Goes Fugitive

John Funk

U.N. Owen Was Him?
Dec 20, 2005
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Suspected PAX Breach Code Thief Goes Fugitive



The 20-year-old man accused of trying to steal code for Atomic Games' Breach from the PAX East show floor failed to show up for arraignment in court - and a warrant has gone out for his arrest.

Okay, everybody, let's play "Bad Idea, Worse Idea!"

Bad Idea: Trying to steal the code for a game [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/99537-Gamer-Tries-to-Steal-Breach-Code-at-PAX-East-Gets-Arrested] from a busy show floor at a crowded industry show, having earlier admitted to pirating Forza 3 and being banned from Xbox Live because of it.

Worse Idea: Failing to show up to your court date for arraignment for the felony you've been accused of above.

That's what 20-year-old Justin D. May did, Suffolk County District Attorney press secretary Jake Wark told Kotaku [http://kotaku.com/5505341/suspected-game-code-thief-on-the-lam]. For whatever reason, May missed his court date after posting a $200 bail, and a warrant has been issued for his arrest.

Look, I certainly understand why a 20-year-old would be afraid to go into court after something like this, to face charges of larceny over $250 and buying, selling or receiving stolen trade secrets. That's scary stuff - the first charge carries prison time of up to five years or a $25,000 fine, and the second could earn you prison time of up to five years or a $500 fine and two years in the house of corrections. Anyone would be intimidated of going in to face something like that, guilty or no.

But that doesn't mean that you don't get to go. Maybe he's used to flagrantly defying the law for years and never getting punished as a software pirate. Maybe he didn't think they'd find him (he's probably played GTA of course, all he needs is to respray his car and a change of clothes and he's good)! Either way, this really doesn't make him look good. In fact, this just makes him look really, really guilty. And really, really stupid.

While he is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, in the court of my mind? Well, let's just say I'm going to be referring to Mr. May as Guilty von Dumbass from here on out.

Update: Joystiq has his gamertag, and has noted that wherever he is, he's playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 [http://www.joystiq.com/2010/03/30/breach-thief-jumps-bail-currently-playing-modern-warfare-2/]. Well done, Guilty von Dumbass. Well done. What, you couldn't wait until after your court date to download the Stimulus Package?

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Rathy

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Aug 21, 2008
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Not sure he could be any dumber. And he likely killed any chance that he was innocent of any of the charges, unless hes somehow completely unable to move at home...

Now placing bets that when he is caught, he comes up with a stupid escape idea, or claims that he never tried to skip the court date.
 

Tempest Fox

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Oct 18, 2008
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Breakin' the law, breakin' the law! Breakin' the law, breakin' the law!

...sorry, couldn't help it. How deep of a grave you think this kid can dig himself in to? He's already gotten this far, how much further could he possibly go?
 
Apr 28, 2008
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Would an innocent man flee?

I know its scary, but if you really didn't do anything bad, they you have nothing to worry about.

I'm gonna call it, guilty.
 

DigitalSushi

a gallardo? fine, I'll take it.
Dec 24, 2008
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As evident by John Funks previous article where the following happened;

But oh wait, it gets even better: The very same suspect was at a panel earlier at PAX East with Stephen Toulouse, director of policy and enforcement for Xbox Live, during which he asked if he could please have his Gamertag unbanned from the service. When asked why he'd been banned, the alleged thief said that he'd played Forza 3 early - and as it turned out, it had been an illegally downloaded copy of the game, too.
This guys is just plain ignorant, how can you even go through life like that?.
 

Lvl 64 Klutz

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Apr 8, 2008
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I agree with the sentiments in this article. The kid probably freaked out when he realized that shit was about to get real, and made a very, very stupid decision. Not that I'm trying to garner any sympathy for the block-headed pirate.
 

LTK_70

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Aug 28, 2009
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The evidence is incontrovertible! This case undeniably proves that pirating and playing video games will make your kids criminals!
 

JourneyThroughHell

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Sep 21, 2009
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Well, serves him right.
I really hope that the judges don't go easy on the guy.
Also, I really want Breach to succeed and occurances such as these may discourage some developers from showing their products on exhibitions.
This guy is truly a jackass.
 

LTK_70

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Aug 28, 2009
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Tempest Fox said:
Breakin' the law, breakin' the law! Breakin' the law, breakin' the law!

...sorry, couldn't help it. How deep of a grave you think this kid can dig himself in to? He's already gotten this far, how much further could he possibly go?
Oh, there's plenty deeper to dig from here. He could buy (or steal) a gun, use it to jack a car, get caught in a high-speed car chase, crash and start a police shootout, and finally put a bullet in his own head. I'd say that's about the point where you hit rock bottom.
 

Jandau

Smug Platypus
Dec 19, 2008
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Guilty or innocent is not what interests me, that's for the court to decide. The question is how smart is it to run like this? Since it's not a major crime I doubt the authorities will go to great lenghts to track him down and if he's got a secluded basement in a dark corner of a large city to hide in, I can see him eluding capture.

What I'd like to know is how does he plan to live a remotely normal life with an arrest warrant hanging over his head? Any job he applies to will blow his cover and get him busted. Also, how long before statute of limitations hits on this? I'm guessing several years at least. So he basically has to stay off the grid for several years to get off the hook at this point.

I wish him the best of luck, but I have serious doubts as to his chances. He's a 20-year old trying to steal a computer game. I'm guessing he's not the type to pack up and go into the woods or blend into the dark underbelly of a metropolis...
 

Therumancer

Citation Needed
Nov 28, 2007
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Hmmm, not sure if he's a a thief or just a twit from reading this and the previous article. Will be interesting if we ever hear about it being sorted properly.

Breach... I wonder if it's going to be a remake of the old "Breach" tactical games from many years ago? which I personally believe inspired the "X-Com" series.
 

Tempest Fox

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Oct 18, 2008
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LTK_70 said:
Oh, there's plenty deeper to dig from here. He could buy (or steal) a gun, use it to jack a car, get caught in a high-speed car chase, crash and start a police shootout, and finally put a bullet in his own head. I'd say that's about the point where you hit rock bottom.
Point taken, though I sincerely hope it doesn't come to that. Still, with how this guy's acted, it wouldn't come as a shock if he did. I really do hope it doesn't come down to that.
 

PopcornAvenger

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Jul 15, 2008
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I have no sympathy for the kid, but, c'mon, a FELONY LARCENY conviction? Those never go away, they're the scarlet letter of modern times. For a game? Gimme a break.
 

Asehujiko

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Feb 25, 2008
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Irridium said:
Would an innocent man flee?
From a case that he's going to loose regardless of his actual guilt because being tagged as "pirate" by the big corporations is a certain way of getting convicted for anything the corporate lawyers can be bothered to write down? I wouldn't blame him.

And this ridiculous one sided reporting on everything surrounding piracy has to stop. It is a highly debated issue and trying to pass off your opinion about it as a fact only makes you look like bigots.
 

Jared

The British Paladin
Jul 14, 2009
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ToonLink said:
No words for this. Utterly stupid on this guys part.
Seriously. I hope they catch him and show him the full extent of the law! God nows he deserves none less!